Solstice Woes
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: R&R


**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own White Knight Chronicles just the words below._

_**~#~#~#~**_

Alastor bit back from sighing in frustration for what must have felt like the umpteenth time that night. Of all the times to return to Greede, it just had to be during the week when the Drisdall family held their annual winter solstice party which also doubled this year as a wedding party for the new Count who had finally popped the question to the love of his life since the Spellcaster had last seen them. Amazing the things one missed when preferring to travel than settle down.

Even so, amongst all the nobles in this party, despite being recognised as one of the heroes during the war against New Yshrenia as well as his reputation as the Scion of Lore, he felt like he did not belong here which sort of was true since he was no noble to begin with and had only been with the Drisdall family as a watcher of the once infantile Drisdall heir who had matured surprisingly all thanks to the events of the last few years. He may not always have liked Caesar, but he did give credit where it was due and the now married Count was helping the free city to thrive to even greater heights if he truly believed what he had seen upon entering the city.

"Wow. You actually accepted the invite _and_ showed up"

Now _there_ was a voice he had no trouble recognising.

"I did neither" Alastor corrected. "I just had the misfortune of coming here at the wrong time and-"

The Spellcaster's voice was lost when he turned round to face the former Pactmaker of the Moon Maiden. He had become rather close to the girl, but this was the first time he had ever seen her in an actual dress and not her usual attire. The strapless lavender blue dress she wore suited her perfectly and while it did not turn as many heads as some of the other ladies in the room it was more than enough to render Alastor speechless.

"Are you…_blushing_?" Yulie asked quite sure she had seen a hint of pink on the azure magician's cheeks before he quickly turned away.

"What makes you think that? I just haven't been using magic to keep myself warm while outside" Alastor scoffed mentally kicking himself for such a silly excuse.

"Oh, _really_?" Yulie pressed not believing Alastor for a second as she suddenly appeared in his field of vision. "You sure it's not because of some pretty girl who's caught your eye?"

Catching the playful glint in the younger girl, Alastor humoured Yulie by taking a slow glance around at all the women in the ballroom before retraining his gaze on her.

"Pretty sure" The Spellcaster replied earning a shove in reward.

"Well that's a fine way to make a girl feel special!" Yulie huffed although the mirth in her eyes told him that she was not completely mad at him for not complimenting her.

"Hey, you're not exactly acting all ladylike, you know" Alastor pointed out.

"Excuse me for not being born into some snooty, snobby family of nobles or royalty!" Yulie threw back perhaps a little louder than she wanted judging by the looks she was now getting by those closest to them.

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you. You're crush is currently courting a member of Balandor royalty, is he not?" Alastor advised wisely steering Yulie out of the ballroom towards an empty balcony.

"_Former_ crush- I have gotten over him, I'll have you know" Yulie corrected allowing herself to be brought out of the warmth of the room and into the coldness of winter.

Alastor merely shrugged his shoulders not wanting to argue that point again after the last time it had been brought up. Knowing that that particular topic of conversation was over, Yulie stretched her arms high into the sky looking much perkier now that she was out of the ballroom.

"Man! I never knew how dull these parties were" She sighed letting her arms swing down as she gazed upon the frozen landscape. "All that politeness and stuff, I'm actually glad Medius gave the Count Caesar and not me"

Realising what she had just said, and whom she had just admitted it to, Yulie quickly whipped round to glare at Alastor who was looking like he was trying to keep a straight face. Unable to hold it in, the pair suddenly broke out in quiet chuckles at the thought of her being a Countess.

"That makes two of us. I doubt I would have lasted long in my job here if you were" Alastor could not help but grin recalling all the times he and Yulie had butted heads during their adventures.

Yulie could not help but disagree with that. In all honesty, she could not but wonder if, had she been given to the late Count Drisdall instead of Caesar, things in life would have been better like, for example, her relationship with Alastor. True, they were not all 'buddy-buddy' when they first met, but as their adventure together went on, they had gotten closer to one another close enough to the point where they went from being friends to-

"You okay there?" Alastor asked snapping her from her musings.

Realising she had been daydreaming while still in the presence of her friend, Yulie quickly flashed Alastor an apologising smile while mentally berating herself for wandering off with the fairies.

"Sorry. Talking about that made me wonder if things would have turned out differently if I were Drisdall's child not Caesar" She admitted quietly. "Like…_us_ for example. If I had been under your watch while growing up, would you have stayed with me if I had asked you, not as your boss, but as your friend and…maybe…even…"

As Yulie's words became more slow and quiet, Alastor could not help but show concern for her especially when he noticed her face was starting to turn red as if she was suddenly coming down with something. Before he could ask if she wanted to step back inside, he was surprised when Yulie stepped in close and wrapped her arms round his waist.

"H-Hey!" Alastor exclaimed wanting very much to shove her off of him but not wanting to as it meant she would see his cheeks were as red as hers due to the contact of their bodies.

"Please" Yulie mumbled into his chest. "Could you just hold me? This'll probably be the only chance I'll get to do this before you disappear again"

"What do you mean by that?" Alastor asked as he complied with the girl's confusing request and returned her hug.

"It's nothing, just the ramblings of an unlucky maiden" Yulie insisted suddenly wishing she had kept her mouth shut.

"Yulie, what's wrong?" Alastor pressed prying the reluctant girl off of him to get a better look at her.

Yulie was sorely tempted to snap at him, get into one of their infamous arguments then use it as an excuse to stomp off and get away from him before he could pry into her problems. As appealing as that mentally sounded, Yulie found herself disagreeing with the notion her heart opting to come clean with the Spellcaster. It was not like his bag of magicks could help her anyways.

"If you must know: I'm upset that the one I was crushing on has never noticed me- and before you say anything, I really have gotten over him…_mostly_" Yulie grudgingly admitted before continuing on. "There's also the fact that the other person I'm crushing on prefers to wander about instead of remaining in one place; and then there's the fact that I barely did anything with my Knight while Leonard and Caesar are practically known throughout the lands because of them- it just really isn't fair!"

She knew she should not be acting so childish over such matters, Yulie could not help herself. Her time to shine was a scant amount of time compared to her fellow Pactmakers and, as if it were not bad enough, they were also in relationships with their significant other whereas she was stuck still searching for that special someone. Was it really too much to ask for fate to look her way for once?

Too enwrapped in her woes, Yulie was taken completely by surprise when she felt herself engulfed in a hug from Alastor.

"What are you…?" Yulie tried to ask not really complaining about the usually stern Spellcaster doing the instigating for once but puzzled all the same.

"I figured a hug would be better than hitting you upside the head or hexing you" Alastor replied softly as he felt Yulie snuggle more comfortably into his arms. "Have you ever stopped to notice that, while the others had the Knights to help them, you relied on your own abilities from the get go? So what if they can turn into seven metre monstrosities? You and I managed to keep up with them with our own strengths and powers long before we got our Knights. That has to count for something, right?"

Yulie remained silent as she thought over Alastor's words. She had never really thought of it that way, too caught up in trying to catch Leonard's attention or just plain keep up with the rest of the heavy hitters in their little group. To be lectured by the man she had once seen as a pain in the neck now a possible love interest in the matters felt more complimenting than embarrassing or humbling.

"Maybe" She muttered finally wrapping her arms round his waist once more smiling softly when she felt him tighten his grasp around her frame. "By the way…"

Waiting until he was properly looking at her, Yulie plucked up her courage and kissed him square on the lips before she could falter. The look on his face when she pulled away was too funny and memorable for words.

"You're cute when you blush" She giggled snuggling back into his chest.

"Yeah, well…there is this pretty little maiden who's caught my eye, I suppose, whose beauty rivals that of the moon" Alastor grumbled looking anywhere but at Yulie as he tried to control the fire of his cheeks.

"Then you should keep in touch with her. Don't want her to go falling for some unworthy shmuck, after all" Yulie advised barely managing to keep from giggling at the ill veiled hint.

"I'll keep that in mind. No promises, though" The Spellcaster added as an afterthought.

Perhaps coming to this festive party had some merits after all, although he would not openly admit that little titbit to anyone no matter how close he was to them.

_**~#~#~#~**_

_My last fic of the year & upon it I make the resolution to throw out more stories &/or updates than I have in 2014. Seriously, I think I can count on one hand the amount of stories & updates I did give or take._

_All the best to everyone be they aspiring writers or bored readers looking for a distraction from the woes of the real world._

_Happy New Year!_


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